Little Moments
by BOWIEgirl
Summary: Law&Order/Flawless Crossover. Ed was glad Cha-Cha wasn't perfect, because that wouldn't be any fun. He loved everything about her, mistakes included.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. Not Law and Order, or Flawless. Brad Paisley helped give me the idea.

* * *

Ed turned a little too quickly around a corner. "Seriously baby," Cha-Cha began, letting go of the handle she'd grabbed in a panic, "you're going to give me a heart attack. You're not in a high speed chase, you're taking me to Rusty's. Slow down."

"It's more fun this way. Besides, you used to like it when I would speed through the city." He couldn't remember her complaining before. Usually she laughed and told him to go faster. Insist he turn the cherry on to avoid red lights. "What's up?"

"Nothin's 'up', I just don't want to go flying out the window." She knew she was whining, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't gotten much sleep the past night, her high heel snapped on the stairs, and she just wanted to complain.

Ed tapped his fingers on the wheel as he slowed for a light. "Still mad about your shoe, huh?" Girls and their accessories.

"It was one of my favorites," she said, not even sure if that was true. Mourning over any old pair would make her look more foolish than she already did.

"Really? It didn't look like one you wore a lot." Not that he could keep up with every single shoe she owned. He doubted even she could. But it hadn't looked that familiar.

"Well I only wore that pair on special occasions," Cha-Cha said. When Ed inquired why today was a special occasion she rolled her eyes and said she didn't know. It just was. He held his hands up in surrender, apologizing before the light turned green and he had to grip the wheel again.

The detective waited a moment before glancing back at her. "Is this only about the shoe this morning?" He understood she adored her heels, but this seemed a little extreme. "Are we okay?"

"'We'? Don't you mean 'Are you okay'?" She was being a brat. Sue her.

Ed blinked. Yeah, technically that's what he meant. But if she had a problem it usually was something that would effect him. Especially now since it was making her snap at him. "I said 'we' because I'm getting the feeling I did something."

"I'm upset so it must be your fault? You assume you have that much influence over my moo-"

"Hey! Stop it!" Ed braked a little too hard for the current light. Cha-Cha bounced in her seat, pushing against the seatbelt uncomfortably for a second. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me?! What do you think you're doing?! You could have killed us!"

"I just stopped at a stop light." What was going on with her?

Cha-Cha crossed her arms. "Going from sixty to zero in two seconds!" Whiplash much?

"The speed limit is only forty five!" Not that she paid attention to that, but in his defense.

"As if you don't speed," she said, looking out the window.

Ed was beyond shocked by this personality switch. "Where is this attitude coming from?"

"I don't have an attitude. You're just too sensitive for your own good." He always took things way too personally. She examined her nails, uninterested in looking at him.

He nodded. "Right." When it was green he hit the gas, causing her to bounce again, this time into the back of the seat. "Sorry."

"I can't stand this! Why didn't we take the subway!" Forget studying her nails, she threw her hands up dramatiacally instead.

The dective was trying not to react to her shouting with yelling of his own, but it was hard. "If I did something just tell me!" She ignored him.

"You always have to drive. Always have to show off. 'Oh look at me, I live in New York where it is absolutely unnecessary to drive myself anywhere, but I constantly feel the urge to remind everyone I have a license! I'm too good for the subway!'"

Ed looked at her in disbelief. "That's what this is about?"

"What is what about?" She was ranting. He was just supposed to take it like a man and sit there listening to her irrational complaints. Or block her out. Not think too deeply about anything.

"You're mad at me because I can drive." She'd never had a problem with it before. That she'd shown anyway. And Cha-Cha had never expressed any interest in driving. No animosity about not being able to.

"I am not." What a stupid thing to be mad about. It's not like she felt inadequate or anything. Like she was missing out on something. No, she thought driving was dumb.

Obviously she was. Maybe not mad, but jealous at least. "Why didn't you tell me it bothered you?" Ed asked. "And…if you want a license, hun, we can work on that." You didn't have to be between the ages of sixteen and eighteen.

"It doesn't bother me, I don't want a license, I just want you to get me to Rusty's sometime today without killing me." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"No hurry?" he asked.

"No hurry." As long as he didn't intentionally go out of his way to make it take longer than it really needed to.

Ed nodded. "Okay." There would be a slight detour then. If she was in no hurry, what would it matter? She wasn't paying attention to where he was going anyway. Didn't notice he pulled into an empty parking lot of a closed building. He got out and walked to her side.

The getting out part she caught. "Ed what are you doing?" She didn't get an answer until he opened her door.

"I'm switching places with you. Now come on, get out." He held out a hand for her.

"No. No I'm not getting out Ed. This is ridiculous."

He kept his hand in the air, waiting for her. "Have you ever tried driving?" It would be understandably scary if she hadn't.

Cha-Cha glanced around a bit. "No." She may have wanted to try it once or twice… But no. No one she knew had a car. With the subway it hadn't been necessary… What kid didn't want a license though? Whether or not it'd be used.

"Well. No one's around, we've got the lot to ourselves. I'll walk you through it. Okay? It'll be fun."

She swallowed nervously and snapped again. "No. It won't be fun Ed. I want to go home." Ed's face fell. He thought she might want to try it. Dropped his hand. As he started to close the door she stopped him. "Wait!" Pause. "Since we're already here and everything." She slowly unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car. Ed took her place, smiling softly when she couldn't see.

Sitting down on the drivers side, she instantly got cold feet and asked again if they could just forget the whole thing. "Five minutes," Ed said. "If you hate it we can go home. Or to Rusty's. Whichever one you want." She sighed in agreement. Put her seatbelt on. "First things first, turn it on." He handed her the keys.

"Let me guess," she said sarcastically. "This goes here?" Into the ignition went the key. So far so good. "Now what?"

"Put your foot on the brake, the one on the left. Then change from park to drive like this." He showed her how to go from one to the other. "Alright. It's in drive. Now slowly take your foot off the brake…good." It began to roll forward. "Press the gas slowly, however much you feel comfortable."

Cha-Cha squeaked as she went faster than anticipated, foot returning quickly to the brake. "I hardly touched it!"

"Yeah, it only takes a tap to get going." He was trying not to smile. It had been a little amusing.

"Thanks for the heads up."

Ed sobered. "I told you slowly." Okay okay, don't argue with her. Just let her blame you. "Let's try it again, alright? Go to the end of this lane. Pretend there are cars in the parking spots." She successfully managed a straight line. "Good!"

He had her drive around a bit more, turning to go down the different lanes, a few attempts at parking, and anything else that came to mind. He was relieved to see her smiling. Much better than yelling at him.

It was getting darker now. Dinner plans at Rusty's forgotten. The lights in the lot were on, and that was enough for them. "Go to that light," he said, wanting to make sure she could see what she was doing properly.

She pulled up beside it, the car nose poking into the lane. "Back up a bit." She gave him the look. "Hey, if this were real, you'd be in the way." She did what he asked. "Alright, let's…go left," he decided. Cha-Cha turned the wheel and took her foot of the brake. But she forgot to put it in drive.

The car backed into the concrete base of the lamp post.

Ed would never forget the first time he heard that pretty mouth say a dirty word. "Shit!" Cha-Cha cried. She covered her mouth and her face got red, and she looked ready to cry. "Ed I-" Words failed her, muffled anyway by her hands. His car was not in good shape, she was in worse. But she looked so darn cute, in a panicked, emotional wreck kind of way. Ed looked at her, and couldn't even act like he was mad. "I'm sorry," she squeaked, eyes watering.

"It's alright," he said softly.

"Ed I-"

"Put it in drive." She did. "Move up a bit and park." Cha-Cha's hands shook as she did what he said. When they were parked he took the keys out of the ignition.

"I..am so…sorry…" She was near hyperventilating. Positive she was really gonna get it.

Ed reached over to touch her face gently. "Sweetheart, you did great."

"Ed!" She choked on the sob she was trying to prevent. He had to be furious! "Sugarcoating it only makes me feel worse!" Made her feel bad for making him lie trying to convince her he didn't hate her. She'd rather get the yelling over and done with.

"It's my fault, Cha-Cha, I had you back up." She would have been in drive otherwise.

"But I'm the idiot who didn't-"

"I should have double checked you switched to drive. I'm sorry." Cha-Cha couldn't believe Ed was apologizing to her. She'd just wrecked his car, and she was getting the apology? Ed's other hand went to her face too, bringing her close enough to kiss gently. "Are you okay?"

"Don't you mean 'we'?" she said, blinking back tears, a small smile showing. "Are we okay?"

"We are fine. You are…something else." More polite than you look severely distressed and red from crying. "Let's switch spots." Cha-Cha practically threw the door open and darted around. Ed hadn't gotten up yet. After he opened his door, he pulled her onto his lap. "We'll try this again, but away from the lights."

"No, Ed, I won't wreck another car."

"Exactly, you'll be fine." He was worried he'd killed her spirit to try.

Cha-Cha shook her head. "Ed I'm not doing this again."

"If you had a real instructor you'd be fine."

"If I can't do it with you, I can't do it with anyone." That was her new philosophy.

Ed was afraid she'd say that. "Honey, at least think about it. I'd hate this to be the reason you don't get a license if you want one. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Whatever. I'll think about it. Can we go home?"

He kissed her nose. "Sure." She hopped off and stood, he followed suit, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"Who are you calling?" she asked.

He was going to call a tow truck, but he wasn't sure if it was that bad. He'd need to see it in better light. Didn't want to risk driving it though. "No one," he said, changing his mind. "I think we should take the subway home though."

"Alright." They walked in silence for a while. "I'm sorry," she said again, still feeling horrible.

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling at her. "Honey really, don't even think about it."

When Ed would look back on this, he wouldn't even remember what she backed his car into. He'd just remembered the first time he heard her swear, the look on her face as she said it while realizing what she'd done, and how she was too adorable to even try to be mad at.


	2. Chapter 2

"Chocolate or vanilla?" Cha-Cha asked.

Ed paused. Depended on what they were talking about. "For what?" Was this a trick question?

"A cake, of course," she answered, eyes wide. Did he think the date had slipped her mind? "I wouldn't forget your birthday!"

"Oh that," he said. "You don't need to do the whole cake thing, Cha-Cha. It's not a big deal."

"Sure it is! You're forty!"

The detective grumbled and fell into a kitchen chair. "Don't remind me."

Cha-Cha would have none of this moping about. It was his birthday, he would enjoy it and have fun.

Whether he liked it or not.

"Chocolate or vanilla?" she asked again. A cake would be made and eaten, no question about that. What was so wrong with celebrating?

"Vanilla, I guess." He was really apathetic to the whole birthday thing. Well, he used to like them. But he finally hit forty and he was a little depressed.

Old. Forty. Seriously? Cha-Cha was still in her twenties. That was ridiculous. Pretty soon he'd be like those creepy guys who try to pick up dates way too young for them! He didn't want to be that person! Except…he wouldn't exactly be picking up dates, he had Cha-Cha. But it was the idea that he could be the creeper on the corner that got him. Do you know what else this meant? When he was fifty Cha-Cha would still be in her thirties. It would bother him all over again! Hell, he'd die at eighty something years old and she'd still be in her early sixties, full of life.

He may have been over thinking this.

Cha-Cha kissed his cheek, hoping to get a small smile out of him before starting on her new project. It sort of worked. Getting to work she hummed softly, switching between Happy Birthday and whatever songs floated into her head. She was happy for him, even if he wasn't.

Ed plopped his head into his hand, watching her. Appreciated the thought, but it made it real if there was something out of the ordinary going on. He'd rather pretend he was thirty nine some more. Well, he had a few hours left. He was born in the late afternoon.

When the cake was in the oven she returned, asking how he would like to spend the day. "I'd like to relax."

"Couch or bed?"

"Couch," he answered.

"Movie or cuddle?"

"Both." It was like On Demand personified. If only every day were this easy. In a second he found himself on the couch, Cha-Cha curled up beside him, remote in hand. Of course nothing was on, and neither had felt in the mood for any of their DVDs. He settled for watching the last hour of The Princess Bride for the millionth time. Cha-Cha's eyes had lit up when he passed over it, and considering he hadn't found anything anyway, he stuck with it.

The Princess Bride ended, and both sat through the next movie too. They didn't catch the name. Or the plot. Both of them were zoning in and out, talking occasionally, and mostly just holding each other. Cha-Cha was getting fidgety though.

"You're bored, aren't you?" she asked.

"No, hun," Ed said, shaking his head. He was just quiet because he was relaxed. And…maybe slightly bored.

"Yes you are. What do you want to do?"

"I want to forget the whole thing and call it a day."

"Sorry," she said with a laugh. "Wrong answer!"

Ed sighed. "Then I want a nap."

She crossed her arms. "God, you are no fun. Seriously baby, over night you turned into a big, boring…anger ball."

"Anger ball?"

"Yes! Where's the Eddie I know and love? He may be one year older, but he wouldn't let that stop him from having a good time. Now you can do anything you want today, napping the only exception. Go!" She waited for him to suggest the next activity.

"Fish."

"What?" Fish? What did he mean by that?

"Go Fish." Obviously.

Cha-Cha stared at him. "You want to play Go Fish?" She would, he was suggesting something like she asked, but that was surprising.

"Not really. Just came to my mind." Spoke too soon.

"You know what? We're playing anyway. You said it, it counts. I'll be right back." She returned a moment later with a deck of cards, shuffling them as she walked. "You are so hard to work with," she mumbled, smiling lightly.

A few games went by, Ed winning them all. Either she was letting him win, or she really sucked at Go Fish. He couldn't tell. Then again, it wasn't really a two person game. That probably had a lot to do with it. "Five zero, babe. Play again?"

"Sure," she grinned. Anything to keep him busy and awake.

Nodding, he gathered the cards. It was his turn to shuffle again. He sniffed the air. "Do you smell something?"

"No not really-oh!" She'd completely forgotten about the cake! "Oh no!" Cha-Cha darted into the kitchen to open the oven. As black smoke emerged and she pulled out what was supposed to be desert she cried, "I don't believe this! As if you weren't having a bad enough time without me losing all track of time and burning the cake!" She threw it onto the counter in despair. "I hate birthdays!" Pause. "Oh my god I'm turning into you!" She looked terrified at the thought.

Ed ignored the comment, knowing she hadn't meant to insult him. He was about to tell her to take a deep breath when an alarm went off. He winced and covered his ears, another one beeping loud and obnoxiously above him. Soon every smoke detector in the apartment was going off, and Cha-Cha just stood in the middle of the kitchen, feeling defeated. She was just about to cry before Ed took her in his arms.

Surrounded by smoke and blaring alarms, Ed held her close, trying not to let her see him laugh. He might have gotten away with it, but his shoulders were shaking slightly. "Are…are you laughing?"

"Of course not," he said, a smile evident in his voice. Unable to help himself, he had to laugh out loud. Cha-Cha pushed against him in disbelief. She'd been trying all afternoon to get him to smile, and now he was almost falling over laughing?

"That's just great," she said, eyes tearing up. "Now you enjoy yourself! Glad I could help."

"I'm sorry sweetheart it's not funny at all." He was still laughing, unsure what he found so hilarious. "If it's any consolation I'm having a great birthday."

"You're so mean!" she called over the noise, finally following his lead and smiling. She was devastated her work had gone up in smoke, but he was happy now. "How do you turn those things off?!"

"They should go off on their own once the smokes gone, don't you think?!"

"The fire department won't come, will they?!"

"Not if they know it's us!" he laughed. "We've given them enough false alarms!" Hey, accidents happen. "Come on, let's get away from this!"

"It's in every room!" Where did he expect them to go? Leave the apartment? She wasn't dressed for that!

"Not every room!" He took her hand and lead her down the hall, going into the bathroom and shutting the door after them. Hopping up to sit on the counter, he patted the spot beside him for her to join. Jumping up, she needed more than a hop, she scooted over to lean against him. The buzzing could still be heard, but it was much fainter and they didn't have to scream to be heard. Ed wrapped an arm around her. They'd hide in here for a while.

Cha-Cha hadn't pictured the afternoon ending this way, but if he was laughing, it couldn't be that bad, right? "Happy birthday."


	3. Chapter 3

"Seriously man? I loved that car!" Ed's friend David was more upset over the loss of the vehicle than he had been.

Ed shrugged. "I was thinking about getting a new one anyway, so it just gave me an excuse."

"But you hate adjusting to new cars," commented Steve. It was a well know quirk of his. No one could even borrow his. God forbid they rearrange something.

"Exactly. I never would have gotten rid of the thing. If it weren't for her nothing would ever change around here." He liked the new car. It had a lot more fun features. He knew they'd never believe him that Cha-Cha was allowed-legally as well as by him- to drive this one if she wanted to. She could, but she swore she was done. Ed was glad she hadn't given up before she could get a license, but still felt bad that after she had she'd gone back to being too nervous to go anywhere.

The apartment had also been another thing he'd surrendered to her. His once perfectly cleaned home was no more. It didn't look like a tornado swept through it or anything, but it would never reach his desired degree of cleanliness again. Together they had too much stuff, and both of them were getting too lazy to put it away. Plus when he wasn't working, he had more important things to do at home than clean.

"You hate change." How the man survived the seasons was beyond them.

Ed took a sip of his beer and frowned. "I do not 'hate change'."

"Come on man," David insisted, "it scares the shit outta you."

"Last time I checked my career didn't allow cowards." Detectives couldn't be afraid of something as simple as change. He took another drink for something to do in the silence.

"Yeah okay." The group was not convinced. "Why do you let her walk all over you?" Mark asked from the sofa chair. "And she gets away with everything." He pointed to the various items left around the room. Heels kicked to the side of the table, more by the door, lipstick on each counter top, skirts that never got put away last week hanging over the back of the chair... Mark was currently examining one close to him. It was incredibly short. "You would have never let this slide before. I can't even leave my keys on the table without you eying them maliciously." An exaggeration, but still. "And I'm one of your closest friends."

Vaughn laughed. "If you wore that skirt in your hand you could leave stuff wherever you wanted to, too." The other man scoffed. Best friend status should trump short skirts. "Probably wouldn't hurt if sex was involved in your relationship too." Shudders all around. Leaving stuff around Ed's apartment wasn't that important to him. Both of them were very attractive, but…that wasn't meant for these friends.

"I have to admit I got the impression you all liked her." The men nodded their heads.

"She's great. She's hot. Got the right kind of humor and she's never boring. We just don't know where the tough Ed went. Pushover Ed is nice too, but-"

"Hey," Ed laughed. He didn't give in to everything Cha-Cha wanted.

"She wrecks your car so you buy her a new one?" David hadn't moved on from the car topic.

Ed sighed. "It's not hers, its mine. She can just use it if she wants to. But that incident has permanently discouraged her, so she never does." The loss of her confidence bothered him more than the loss of his car. And that baffled them too.

"Aren't you relieved you don't have to worry about losing this one? And what about the fire trucks showing up for your birthday?" Firemen had almost found Ed and Cha-Cha up close and personal in the bathroom. Luckily they had heard the sirens in time to get dressed and run down laughing, telling them it had just been a baking accident. Laughing. They'd found it fun, not bothersome.

How did talking about how things were going with Cha-Cha end up feeling more like they were trying to convince him she was a trouble maker? He supposed they just weren't accepting of the fact he was spending less and less time with them. "I know she's not perfect, but…she tries so hard for me. I didn't see any of you over for my birthday."

"We figured you'd be mourning your youth and stayed away."

"Oh ha ha." So that was true. Big deal. He'd ended up having a great night. "But seriously, thank god she isn't perfect, because how boring would that be?" No burning the apartment building down? Getting chased out of mattress stores for jumping on beds? "It's the little imperfections that I love about her. Like the time we tried going to Niagra Falls for some holiday." The day escaped him now. But they'd had a sudden change of plans. "She misread the directions and we ended up lost in Canada. We had more fun trying to find our way home than we could have just watching water fall down." Oooh. A big cliff with water. Yay. They may have had no idea where they were or what they were doing, but they were together holding hands the whole time and had a blast. That was the kind of little moment he lived for.

"Seems like you almost have to babysit her," commented David.

Vaughn rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He was a big fan of Cha-Cha, and believed she was more mature than the stories portrayed. If someone had to judge any one of them in the room by stories alone, none would have any credibility. They'd all done worse things than misreading directions.

"Yeah, sorry, your boyfriend is where?" Ed asked the single David. His friend made a face but stayed silent. "That's what I thought."

"Honey, you home?" called a high voice from the other room, the sound of the door closing floating in after.

"We're in here," Ed called back.

"We?" she asked, sounding excited. She loved company. Rounding the corner she beamed. "Hi boys." She walked into the room and Ed couldn't help but smirk at his friends. She was dressed to kill, like always, and suddenly all complaints were out the window, replaced with wide eyes following her as she sauntered over to her man. 'Hi Cha-Cha', 'Hey Cha-Cha,' 'Cha-Cha, how's it going?' and the like were said to avoid jaws obviously dropping. The skirt Mark had found suddenly seemed long in comparison to this one, and her heels couldn't be higher. The shoes encouraged her hips to swing more than they naturally would, and it was obvious the walk from the door to Ed's lap was not long enough for the gawkers. She gave her love a quick kiss as she settled down. "If I'd known we were having a party I would have been home earlier."

Happened every time. A few 'She's a little young and immature for you, don't you think?'s, then she comes home and oh la la what was their complaint again? Every time. She may have been a kid at heart, but she had the body of an exceptionally desirable adult. Of course it had been her personality that Ed fell in love with, but it didn't hurt to have a gorgeous appearance to go with it.

"What's the occasion?" she asked. While finding a friend of Ed's here was hardly unusual, she didn't normally come home to four plus him.

Ed wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Oh you know, just sitting around talking about you." The men panicked. He told her? Seriously? But Cha-Cha just assumed he was joking and giggled and asked who was staying for dinner. Everyone raised their hands.


End file.
